Missing Life
by Lyo
Summary: (Discontinued) A slightly teenage-angsty fic with LancePietro and LanceTabitha.
1. Kick It

Heh...whoo. Blah. Um...whoo. ^^ First real fic from me in a while. It's slightly...er...o.O;; to me right now, but that's because Tabitha's in it and she annoys me. ^^ Anywhoo, R/R!!!!! PLEASE.  
  
  
  
  
Missing Life  
By [Lyo][1]  
Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me. Nothing...All belongs to people with...um...lawyers. o.O  
WARNING: Tabitha Smith is not a nice bouncy blonde in this. She's not evil...she's just...>.< PLUS S-L-A-S-H in future parts. Take a wild guess who. ^^   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Glare. Cereal hitting the bowl, sugar coated flakes spilling in with an almost annoying clatter. 

Glare back. Pale hand reaching for an apple. 

Nails tap off the table, other hand picking out some flakes from the bowl. 

Foot taps on the ground. Tap tap taptaptaptaptaptaptap. 

Eyes narrow. 

Smirk. 

Little bomb is flung. 

White, brown, and blue blur avoids it. Wince at the explosion. 

Another bomb. 

Dodge. 

Glare. 

Smirk. 

"Lance!! Pietro's being mean again!" 

"Lance! Tabitha made another hole in the wall!" 

Scream from behind closed lips as painted nails grab an apple from the basket and figure stomps away. 

Smirk.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
The typical morning tradition in the Brotherhood house now that little miss Tabby Smith decided to take Lance up on his 35% serious offer. Something that Pietro, Todd, and Fred gave him no peace on. Freddy and Todd had a _good_ reason though. She wouldn't let them take any of Mystique's money. She didn't think it a very "good" idea. 

Pietro hated her because she was the one that Lance paid attention too. She was the one that he nodded at when she walked by him in the hallway, the one that went shopping with him. She was the one that helped him with the bills. Pietro just sort of got shoved to the side in all of this, the new girl much too important for anyone to care what dinky little Pietro thought. 

He sighed, wrapping thin arms around himself as he waited for Lance to come down the stairs. Was the older boy deliberately excluding him now? He didn't really think that Lance was like that. It was Tabitha's fault. She was the one who slid in between them when they were talking, threading her arm through Lance's and pulling him away. 

His eyes burned again, hands twisting into fists. He didn't want to say what was really bothering him. But it was so obvious. Was he so transparent that even _Fred_ picked up on his problem? 

Okay, so he was jealous. 

It wasn't any big secret to the Brotherhood that he was gay. Todd had guessed it when they were having a discussion about what they were going to do about the decor of the house now that Rogue had switched sides. Pietro had been the only one, along with Mystique, that hadn't been thrilled at the aspect of having Playboy back issues to use as wallpaper. And they all just sort of shrugged it off after giving him that hard look and the standard, firm, "I'm straight." reply. 

But that hadn't stopped him from watching Lance. From enjoying the attention the older boy gave him because he was like a walking calculator. He didn't really care for math, but he could scribble things down and have an answer before Lance even pressed a button. Pietro liked helping with that. He liked when Lance took him aside and told him about his problems with Kitty. Okay, so he didn't _like_ it, but.... 

Now, that had all changed. Tabitha was here. There was no need for fruity little Pietro...No need at all. 

As if on cue, Lance pounded down the stairs, keys jingling in his hand. He stood up, opening the door for his friend. And the boy reached out to grab his shoulder, "Hey Pietro?" 

"Yeah?" His heart did that sort of funny half twist that he'd missed. He actually missed the slightly-weak-at-the-knees sensations Lance gave him, 

"Would you mind running to school yourself? Tabby missed the bus, and well, there's only four seats in the car." He blinked, once then twice. His hand flew to his stomach, words and air gone from his body. It was like he'd been punched. His eyes stung all over again as he forced himself to nod. "Thanks. Knew you'd understand." 

When Lance went to warm the car up, Pietro shivered a little, determined to steady himself. Some one thumped his shoulder, "Sorry about that, Pete. I would have made it if I hadn't been at work all night last night, and then if some one hadn't been rude during my breakfast." There was an edge to her voice as she said it. 

His eyes narrowed. Todd and Fred exchanged a "Shit." glance. He didn't care. "We wouldn't need you working, 'Bithy, if we didn't have another mouth to feed. And if you'd stop insisting on glaring at me like I did something to you, maybe I wouldn't be rude." 

"Rudeness aside, you eat as much as Fred. Why don't _you_ have a job?" Her lips curved into a taunting smile and she pulled another apple from her bag, biting into it loudly. 

The boy opened his mouth, rage stopping words from making out of his throat. Lance came back into view, smiling, "All ready. Pietro...you okay?" 

"Fine. Alvers." He walked back into the door. "See you." And he walked back into the house, pulling his arm back when Todd put his hand onto the sleeve of his sweater. Pietro didn't bother looking to his friend before slamming the door. The house shook a moment, the sound of the muffled jeep pulling out of the driveway. Gone. 

Tears slid down his face, angry, bitter tears that he refused to admit were there as he tipped his head back, knocking it off the hard plane of the door several times.. 

_Thunk_. 

Hate Tabitha. 

_Thunk_. 

Hate Lance. 

_Thunk_. 

Stupid slutty Tabitha. 

_Thunk_. 

Stupid horny Lance. 

_Thunk_. 

Stupid _straight_ horny Lance. 

_Thunk_. 

_Thunk_. 

_Thun_.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
The chocolate brown eyes were tired as he pulled into the school parking lot, squeezing the steering wheel in his hands as tightly as he could. The night before had been arguing and hatred. Always arguing. Tabitha and Pietro were too similar and too different to get along. They were both energetic and bright and all too proud of their powers. They were both just proud and defiant. But Pietro was that way because of his powers, and it was understandable. Tabby was just...like that. 

He slid out of the jeep, swinging the door shut in a quick movement, "Hey, Mudslide, where you going?" 

A part of him shuddered. He'd gotten more than a little annoyed at the girl. She clung to him when they were home. She complained about things that there was no control over. She rolled her eyes about Todd's smell. She thought Freddy's ought to go on a diet. And she just didn't like Pietro. 

He supposed, mostly from psychology class, that it was the closeness in their ages. She didn't go out of her way to be nasty to him, but he did think she excluded him on purpose. Part of him wanted to tell Tabitha to walk when she complained that she'd missed the bus. Pietro wasn't supposed to run around town at all the time. She knew that. Did she _want_ him to get caught? 

Lance didn't like the answer to the question. 

Todd hopped beside him, "You really shouldn't have ditched Pietro like that, yo. He's one of us, chick or no chick." 

He nodded, "I'll talk to him after school's out." 

An arm slid around his, perfume nearly gagging him. He found perfume to be one of the more evil things about girls. When it came to perfume, he could completely understand why Pietro was gay. "But you promised you'd help me with my Stats project. Pete can wait!" 

There was a moment, Todd's eyes on his as Tabitha played with a strand of his hair. A standoff. He looked away from Todd first, nodding to the girl, "Sure. I'll help you with the project." 

"Not cool." The younger mutant muttered as he and Fred walked off, both casting him glares. 

Tabitha grinned at him, pulling something out of her bag. Another apple. Where the hell was she getting these, "So, Rocky, where are we going now that we've dropped the kids off at school? Some place...romantic?" 

"Let me go." 

"Buuuuut, Laaaaaaaaaaaance..." 

"Tabitha, I have school." He pulled his arm away, running to the school. His eyes darted around, looking for a telltale white head bobbing with in the masses of students in the hallway. None came, just X-freaks and normal humans, carrying on just like every other day. Fred and Todd were gone into their classes. 

He was alone, partially a blessing. Tabby was gone. And out of the corner of his eye, Pietro appeared, clutching books to his chest in frail arms. There was a red tinge to the blue eyes, face paler than usual. Lance opened his mouth to say something, but instead, just watched as the boy walked to his locker, pulling the door open and shoving books inside. 

One of the jocks smacked him in the back, sending his head inside the locker. A flash of anger filled his mind as Pietro pulled himself back out. Where the hell did the flair go? What was wrong with him... 

Lance moved across the hall and to his friend without thinking, "You okay?" 

There was a moment, "Why wouldn't I be?" 

He picked up the boy's book bag, "Because of before." 

"Oh, when you ditched me for Tabitha." The bitterness in the boy's voice was a veil to something that Lance couldn't bring himself to identify. "Don't worry about it. I'm used to it." 

Lance sighed, shaking his head, "I'm sorry about that. Look--" 

The locker slammed, cutting him off, "'We need to make Tabby feel at home. Tabby wouldn't get to the school in time.' I know, Lance. I know. Forbid you not be able to impress some chick." 

"Pietro, look, you wanna do something...maybe tomorrow?" 

Shoulders sagged down, "Sure. Whatever. Just don't bring Tabitha." 

"You should really gi--" 

Pools of blue flame flickered with anger and amusement, "_Give her a chance?_ Since when did you turn into Summers with this morale booster babble. Look, Tabitha and I won't get along no matter how hard I try. So get used to it." 

The older boy sighed, grabbing Pietro's books from him, "Walk you to class?" 

There was a beat, color suddenly rushing to the pale cheeks as the downy head bowed towards the ground, "Sure...ifyouwantto." 

Lance smiled, walking along with Pietro in slowly as the classrooms began to pull unsuspecting teens within their evil clutches. Some people shot them weird looks. He tried not to notice, looking back at his friend. What was Pietro's problem anyway? He'd been so quiet lately. 

"This is my class--" 

"Hey! Decided to come in after all." Tabitha threw her arms around his neck, lips pressing a thick layer of oily lipstick to his cheek. Pietro's books clattered to the ground as new ones were forced into his hands. "Third floor, Jeeves." 

"Piet--" 

The boy said nothing, picking his books up and entering the class room in a blur. "Are you coming or not?" She pulled on his shirt again, lips pursed with displeasure. 

"All right, all right...."   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
^_^ Sorry if any of you liked Boom Boom. I don't. I portray her as I see her. >.< Please, r/r

   [1]: mailto:lyodpdl@yahoo.com



	2. It Just Won't Stop

Hello all!! I have another part of this typed and ready, but I think I want to change something...so....it's not up. Also, Redrose, I think it was you....well, it was someone...ANYWAY...some one IMed me when I was at voice lessons and was too frickin stupid to leave an away message...and when I came back, they were gone. It was a couple of weeks ago, but I JUST found the note that this happened, but I lost the name of the person.....SOOOOO *cough* **I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY** *cough* Anyway, off to be all insane in practicing for footloose audtions.  
  
  
  
Part Two  
By: [Lyo][1]  
Legals: Same  
Warning: Um....more leanings to the slashiness of Pietro and Lance. ^^ And Tabitha is still not exactly in great character.   
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Pietro pushed the salad around in the plastic box, chewing on his lip as Todd plopped down beside him at their table, a steaming hot lunch of cardboard in front of him, "Cool that Kelly's letting us keep the free lunch program." He tried to smile at the younger boy, who was eyeing his carton of fruit punch. 

And he handed it over without incident, pulling out his bottle of water, "Yeah. One last thing for Little Miss "I'm-over-worked-pity-me" to complain about." And he speared a tomato with a blood lust, cobalt eyes troubled. 

"I hear ya. Yesterday she got on my case about not cleaning the slime off my wall. Not cool at all, yo. She's not Lance. She can't tell me what to do." 

"She wants to _be_ Lance." Fred took his usual seat, biting into the tasteless chicken patty and making a face. 

The thought of Tabitha commanding the Brotherhood in Lance's glass bowl helmet made a ghost of a smile cross Pietro's lips as he looked around the cafeteria again, trying to find the senior member of their little group. He wasn't anywhere to be seen. On the possibly-bright side, Tabby was also MIA. "She's not sexy enough to be Lance." 

Todd choked on his lunch, "What!?" There was an amused look to his face. Freddy just shook his head, rolling his eyes. 

"She's. Not. Sexy. She...she sticks her ass out like this--" He stood to show what he meant, torso sticking out from his body. "And she shoves her boobs out like...well...you know what I mean." There was a smirk as he looked in mock sadness down to his flat chest. "And she sucks with blush. Musta taken lessons from Daniels' aunt." 

The younger boy shook his head, "But Lance is not sexy. He's a _guy_." 

"Precisely, Toddikins." He ducked the half eaten french fry tossed at him. "He's a guy. That makes him hot, not to mention that his eyes catch the light in a very appealing way or that his hair is a--" 

"Okay, yo. You sit there and fantasize about Lance. I'm eating my lunch." 

"Homophobe." 

"Brat." Tabby slid into Lance's seat next to Pietro, smirking ever so happily. "Guess what, Pete, my boy?" 

Blue eyes narrowed, teeth grinding together for an instant, "What?" 

She poked his nose with one red painted nail, still smirking, "I said _guess_" 

"What?" 

"You're no fun, you know that." She frowned, making a production of sighing as she slapped a pile of paper down in front of him. "I found some employment forms in the guidance office. I filled them out for you. They just need you social-security and siggie, and you'll be set to go into the wonderful world of work." And she actually looked proud of herself. 

The white haired boy said nothing, picking up the first form, ripping it loudly into little bits of confetti and tossing them at her, "I. Can't. Get. A. Job." 

"And why not? You're sixteen. You're in fine working order. You eat more than Ricky--" 

"Fred." The vein was pulsing in the large mutants forehead. 

Boom Boom glared at him, before turning back to Pietro, standing now with her hands on her hips, "And I do combined. You drink water and you make us go out and buy _special_ foods for you. You make the money go so much quicker and you're just going to look me in the eye and _not_ appreciate a damn thing I do to help our little family group?!" 

There was a moment, pale hands grabbing books off the table in almost too slow manner, eyes staring straight ahead. There was a contemptuous silence at the table, Todd jabbing the same french fry into his ranch dressing, not looking up. And Fred had quietly begun to shred his bun, all but giving up on the nasty food in front of him. 

"Well?" 

Todd rose first, his eyes blaring with a deep-rooted hatred as he pulled his bag off the chair, "C'mon, Pietro." For once, he hit the accent perfectly, rolling the "r" and all that bullshit the silver haired teen had long stopped bothering with. But still, the way Tabitha's eyebrows were brought together in anger made him grin as he followed the other boy. 

And he ignored the look Lance gave him as they left the cafeteria.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"....and then I wads like 'Dude, come on. I just want to help ya!' And he said 'Don't dude me, bitch. I _know_ that I need a job, but I'm, like, waaaaaaaaaay too good for some lousy mortal position!' I was just tryin' to help him! I mean, what's his problem?" Tabby snapped her gum angrily as Lance looked into the rear-view mirror, wishing that he hadn't ditched both Fred and Todd at the school to help the girl with her project. 

"Pietro's got some issues with our leader." 

"I know, I know. He's a little Daddy's boy. He's only told me eighty fucking times. That's his favorite excuse for not doing any work. 'My dad will be so pissed if I get hurt doing all this, like, manual labor!' Whine, whine, bitch, bitch. That's alllllllllll he does!" 

Lance rolled his eyes, "Actually, Tab, that's all you do." 

She didn't listen to him, "And, oh my god! These girls were talking about him in the bathroom. They think he's a faerie. Isn't that a kick? Imagine if Daddy-Dearest knew his little snookums was a fag. He'd shit himself." 

"Tab--" 

"And, please, I know you have this demented loyalty to the guys. And I respect that. But Todd has GOT to do something with that hair. It's such a nast color! I mean, sure, it's interesting cut. And I suppose the teeth and the tongue I could get used to, but his hair is the skankiest color I have ever seen!" 

He frowned, letting the girl's lies slide off of him. Where was that fucking library? She'd insisted that they had to go out to some lifeless little shit town where the people marvelled at the beauty of record players. And she'd yet to point out the library that she so desperately needed to go too. But every moment that passed, he became more and more convinced that she didn't want to go to a library, just get him out of the house. 

If it wasn't for the nice little distraction she provided from Pietro's growing oddness at home, he would have kicked her out of the car a long time ago. 

"So what's this project for?" Lance cut her off mid-sentence, raising brow at her. 

"Chem." She blinked, leaning onto his shoulder, "You'll take me tomorrow in case we don't get this all done, right?" 

He stopped, turning the car around before shrugging his shoulder, "Look, Tabitha, if you want something, just tell me. I don't like when my own teammates lie to me about what they wanna do. Why did you make me drive out to here?" 

She grinned, latching onto his arm, "I think you know why....I wanted some time alone with you. Between work and school and the guys, I never get a chance." And she pouted a little, thankfully not going into a complaining session, "You're my sexy Mudslide and I like that about you." 

And she kissed him, hand turning the wheel into a ditch. Her hands slid into his hair as she slid between the place between the wheel and the boy, grinning devilishly, there lips connecting once more as he began to convince himself that this was some one sexy   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"Isn't there any food here?" Pietro opened the fridge again, shifting things around. Over his shoulder, brownies and chocolate bars and all sorts of fun foods were visible, but he paid them no heed, pulling out a bag of limp lettuce with a moment of resigned hunger. He flopped down on the floor, pulling apart his meal as Freddy pulled out a packet of oatmeal pies and a half-drunk bottle of Mountain Dew. 

"Are you sure you just don't want to eat the rest of the junk?" He eyed the boy, watching leaf after leaf of wilted non-goodness into his mouth. 

Todd shook his head, "He does that, yo, and we're screwed." 

Pietro nodded, tossing the plastic wrap away along with the end piece of the lettuce, "No, it's okay, Fred. Really. I meanwhat'sthedifferenceifTabithaconvinces--" He stopped, clearing his throat. "If Tabitha convinces Lance that we don't need nutritious food, I can just leave." 

There was a stretch of silence, "You'd leave because of Tabitha?" 

He smirked, "'Course not." 

The door swung open at that moment, Tabitha's giggles wiping away that smirk quicker than the boy could run. In a blur of fluid motion, he was at the door frame, watching them come into the hall. Her hands about his waist, one arm lounged over her shoulders. They were kissing. The word kept repeating itself over and over in his mind. 

It had been one thing with Kitty. Kitty didn't live with them. Kitty didn't go out of her way to make him miserable. He didn't really like Kitty to much, but...he'd rather watch Lance and Kitty's wedding before he would the scene before him. Lance and Tabby...Tabby and Lance. Bad things, very bad things. 

A glass hit the floor, breaking the moment between the two. He didn't even bother looking back at the others in thanks before he took to the stairs, shaking as he ran. 

Below him, he could still hear them, "What's his beef?" 

"Leave him alone, Tabitha." 

"Oh, my little Toddy-Woddy, I couldn't do that. I need help on my homework." 

"Tabby, his name is Todd. And let me talk to Pietro." 

"No, you take care of the glass. I can handle Pete. And are we still on for tomorrow?" 

He slammed the door then, not wanting to hear anymore. He and Lance were supposed to do some shitty male bonding thing. He didn't know what the plan was exactly, but he didn't really care. It was supposed to be _him_ and Lance, not Lance's apparent new whore. Pity. He could have done much better. 

Of course he knew that there wasn't any point in feeling jealous all over again. Lance was straight. Straight as they come, rigid. Unmoving. Straight. God he hated that word. And he hated imagining little quirks about Lance when they were together, just the two of them. The way his voice got a little softer, smooth as satin. Or the way his eyes were a different shade of brown then. And he just seemed relaxed and detached.... 

And it was all a mistake, something totally wrong that just wasn't supposed to be there. His mind was working fast to come up with stories and proof that Lance liked him _that_ way. But each time he'd seen Lance and his newest girlfriend, he'd just gone back through this same mantra of "It's a lie. He doesn't like you" until he was utterly convinced of Lance's rock-steady straightness. 

Of course, with the other girls, it hadn't hurt this much. 

The door flew open, the silhouette of a girl on his wall. He buried his head into the pillows, wishing that he could just will her away. But she didn't move, snapping her gum in an annoying fashion. 

"You know, you keep this up, and I'm going to start to think that you _aren't_ into girls." 

He looked at her, smirking half-heartedly, "Maybe you should start doing that." 

"You have a thing for him, don't you?" Hands on the hips. 

"A thing for Lance? Please. He's _touched_ you." 

"No, you want him. You want him to do all sorts of perverted things to you, don't you?" 

Pietro sat up in his bed, "I don't _want_ him like that!" 

"Shame...because I wouldn't mind watching." 

"Leave, Tabitha." 

She grinned then, "All right....I must say you take defeat rather well, Pietro." 

His eyes gleamed a little, "I didn't lose anything." 

"Oh, yes you did." She grinned, wrapping her arms around herself, "And let me say you lost one hell of a prize. He's a great kisser. I can't wait for more." Then she turned a little, "And stay away from him. He's _mine._" 

He clicked the light off in his room, laying there in the dark. Part of him wanted to giggle insanely while the other part wanted to start planning. Poor Tabitha hadn't been in the house to learn one of the cardinal rules, right after "Thou shalt not leave Todd and/or Pietro home alone with Pixie Stix and/or Jolt" and "Thou shalt not slime the Jehovah Witness" and "Thou shalt not put Freddy on grocery duty". 

_Thou shalt not even remotely, accidently, purposefully, or hint at challenging Pietro ... especially when he's pissed at you._   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
BLAH!!!!!!!!!!! ^^ R/R Please. And, of course, this is TBC.

   [1]: mailto:lyodpdl@yahoo.com



	3. Jealousies Arise

Look! Another post!! Whoo. ^_^ *smacks self* I mean chapter. CHAPTER.   
  
  


Part Three  
Legals: Same   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
There was a pit in his stomach when he got out of bed the next morning, ignoring the sounds of bickering already starting down in the kitchen. Without bothering to check on why the house was rattling in its rotting foundation, he slid into the shower, letting the warmth cleanse off the cover of film he had been feeling on his skin since the night before. 

Since she kissed him. 

Kissing Boom Boom was as about as exciting as watching bread go to mold. There was the beginning...and then there was the end, and the end was far more rewarding than the beginning. Only when bread was done molding, you could make medicine. When you were done kissing Tabitha, you felt dirty. 

And not just dirty in the way that you hadn't taken a bath in three weeks. Dirty in way that you, your body, your psyche was tarnished from even callowing those overly-rouged lips touch your lips. Lips that had to touch the food that went into your body, nourishment. That too was tainted, twisted, wrong. 

He scoured his face again, letting the feel of the lipstick and perfume-y badness slide down into the drain at his feet. Again, the house rocked in its foundation, battle cries sounding. The lights flickered a little. 

_Kick her ass, Pietro_. he declared mentally. Last night, when the bad things were happening, his mind kept wandering around. He wondered about Kitty for awhile, wondered what she would think if she came in on this. And he thought about Pietro. He didn't want Pietro to ever see this. He didn't want the other boy to ever find out. And when he thought about the boy, he felt guilty. 

And he shouldn't have felt that way. Pietro and he were friends in the most platonic sense of the word. They never even touched each other, outside of the typical interaction. He'd get annoying; Lance would shove him. Lance would get annoying; Pietro would smack him in the back of the head. Normal, happy types of interaction. 

But there was a deeper feeling to him, something that surged just below the surface. When Tabby wasn't around and her voice wasn't grating him down the path to suicide, he could think about it. And the more he thought about it, the less he liked it, raving mad inside to escape the desire burning inside of him every moment of the day. The only thing he wanted in the world was right in front of him. He could walk right through the bathroom door, taste it, and go right on living. 

If only he could let himself have it. If only he didn't crave distraction from these feelings... 

If only distraction wasn't so easy to find, smashing itself in his face. Sometimes it was Kitty. Sometimes it was another girl. Lately it had been Tabitha. She was there. And she stopped him from letting the little synapses of his brain from starting to connect. Of course it never stopped the sickened feeling he got when ever he was near Pietro. Not sickened, really, but he liked to think of it like that. 

With a sigh, he turned the taps off, wiping the mirror off as he fumbled around for his tooth brush and then his razor. The battle downstairs was quiet, partially because Freddy was awake by now. Annoying Freddy this early in the morning was a death wish waiting to happen. And he caught himself wondering whether or not Tabby was going to get to that level yet. 

He dressed quickly, combing his hair as he thumped down the stairs and into the living room to look at his team. They were all dressed by now, Pietro playing with his bangs. Todd was currently coughing up a storm, Boom Boom doing her part to ruin the ozone layer as she sat beside him. "Why aren't you on the bus?" 

She blinked, "I thought we could drive to school together, just the two of us. The guys won't mind." The glares of the Brotherhood said otherwise, though Pietro turned away quickly. 

"Tab, look, I can't take you today. Fred can't fit through the isles--" 

"And whose fault is that!?" She stood, brows raised into her bangs and hands on those henious hips. 

"It's my mutation" The boy rose to his full hieght before Lance had a chance to calm him. 

"Whatever." Gum snapped, pink bubble forcing out from between her lips. He resisted the urge to pop it. Had to resist the urge. 

"Anyway, and I need to talk to them about stuff." 

"What sort of 'stuff'?" Why couldn't she just go away? 

"Guy stuff. Grab you shit and get on the bus, or you're walking." The look she sent him was scathing with anger, hands clenched on either side of her. And when the door slammed, her heavily stomping boots making their way down the path as the bus drew closer to the boarding house, three pairs of eyes swivelled onto him. 

"I though you had a thing goin' with her. Ain't she gonna be a little pissed that you left her?" There was a suspicious look on the youngest boy's face, voice guarded against his leader. Angry to an extent. 

Fred nodded, "You sure you don't wanna run after her?" 

And Pietro said nothing, eyes like flecks of frosted blue glass, unreadable. There wasn't even an expression on the pale face. "Are we even doing anything later anymore?" 

Lance blinked, stung by the flatness in his friend's voice, "Just because Tabby and I have a thing going doesn't mean that I'm gonna ditch you. We're doing something." 

And the boy nodded, unfolding his lithe form on the couch for a moment, forcing himself out of the tiny postition that he'd been forced into when there were four on the couch. Each movement seemed agonizingly slow, especially for him, yet graceful, poised. Catlike. And he couldn't tear his eyes away as the boy continued his stretching, a weird sort of smile on his delicately-defined face. 

Lance's fist balled at his sides as he watched this almost perverted display. He realized then exactly how tight Pietro's jeans were, hugging to almost ever inch of his legs. And the postitions he could manage. And positions led to thoughts that he would never repeat but let himself travel with, just this once. 

There was a silence in the room then, the only sound was Pietro's soft, even breathing as he finished this little show and slid down off the couch, looking at Lance. His head was still too fogged to realize much else than that, not hearig a question though he was vaguely aware that Todd's lips were moving. 

Long, tender fingers shook his shoulders before he could blink, the boy he'd just been...could he say oogling? standing inches between their bodies. A precious little space, "Lance?" 

The moment shattered then, shrugging the hands away and nodding to his other friends. Nice friends. Nothing to oogle. And not oogling other guys was very good right now. Good. Yes. "C'mon. Can't be late for school or Kelly will want to talk to our guardian again." He forced himself to walk out the door and to not notice the wierd, triumphant smile Pietro was wearing.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
He grinned again as he closed his locker at the end of the day, ignoring the barrage of questions coming from Kitty-Kat. She, unforunately, was in his math class and had beem assigned to tutor him. Oh, joy of joys on high as angels sing of golden triumph. It was going to screw with his plans. Definetly, definetly, definetly screw with his plans. 

"So, like, what are you doing today afterschool?" She bubbled in that slight nauseating way, not be confused wih the _extremely_ nauseating way Tabitha bubbled. Kitty was...sweet like carmel apples and taffy. Sweet but with a funny after taste and a headache that would last for the better part of an hour. 

Besides, she was competition. 

"Lance and I are doing something." He said it as quickly as possible, smoothing his bangs back against his head. They didn't stay too well. 

Her face fell, but nose crinkled. Good sign. If he could weasel his way in there when Lance wasn't mooning over the girl... "Oh. Well, like, tommorrow's free in my book, but I'll, like, be totally busy after that." 

"Tomorrow sounds good." She turned away for a moment, then bit her lip, "Hey, Pietro..." 

"Yeah?" His head was in his locker, shoving books around. Not really paying attention. Wishing she'd just go away. 

"Are you going to the dance on Friday?" 

Paper was still rustling in the locker, "Maybe. Not sure yet." There was a dance on Friday? 

"Yeah...well, uh...like I was wondering....if maybe you'd, like, want to go with me and junk? I mean, as friends or kinda friends or just there to have fun. I don't mean you'd like have to be my date or anything, just, like, you know, go to dance and have fun and then you'd go back to being evil and I'd go back to, like, being an X-man. Nothing would change....so, like, would you?" 

The boy blinked, looking at her with wide eyes. And then he looked over her shoulder. Lance was coming down the hallway then, Boom Boom hanging off of his arm. His brows drew together. "Sure, Kitty." He declared, much louder than he needed to, voice echoing off the halls. "I'll go with you." 

And the reaction was well anticipated, dark brown eyes widening slowly as Kitty giggled a thanks and skipped off. He knew she was just using his status as a sophomore to go. He wasn't that stupid. Besides, the combination of confusion and anger on his friend's face was just too sweet. ot to mention the way Tabitha slid her hands down onto her hips, sticking her lower body even more out of joint as she pouted.   
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"And he said yes!" Lance slammed his fist down on the metal bleacher, glaring at Fred. He ignored the mildly amused expression on his friend's face, putting his head in his hands, "Everyone knows I had my sights on Kitty--" 

"But you're going out with Tabby." The amused look grew slightly more annoying, but still good natured. 

Still, the boy became flustered, "We're not _going out_. It's a fling, a stint to make Kitty jealous." Yes, that sounded good. Never mind the fact that he had absolutely no intention of asking Kitty out anymore. Never mind that he was a little more upset that _Pietro_ had the date. All that mattered was his life absolutely sucking at the moment. 

"Maybe it worked a little too well. She did ask out one of your best friends." Fred looked off into the distance for a moment, "Of course, then again, maybe she's been after him all along." 

His eyes widened, _Trifling bitch!_ "What do you mean?" 

And the boy gave him a gentle smile, "Lance, look. Kitty is a freshman; Pietro's a sophmore. Them going out in a lasting relationship is a lot more likely than it would be if it were you and Kitty. More socially acceptable than a big, bad senior carting around a baby freshman." 

"But...but..." He frowned, "I still can't believe he said yes." 

"Then maybe you should have explained why you've been treating him like shit." 

"I have not!" The past few weeks flew before his eyes, mind suddenly registering all the hurt looks Pietro had given him when Tabitha grabbed him away. Or the way his eyes had actually sparkled with happiness for a brief second when Lance suggested doing something today. And just how very little Pietro had been annoying him _since_ the girl showed up on their doorstep. There hadn't been teasing or playfullness. Just...Tabitha. 

He kinda missed being annoyeds by Pietro. 

Fred nodded, rolling his eyes, "Right, Lance..." 

One hand slid into his loose hair, "Okay, so I have. I should be shot because I've been such an ass to him. I will sacrifice myself to the altar of Pietro. But....he still said _yes_!" 

"And I say yes too, Rocky." The blonde girl that he was trying to avoid, slid into his lap, throwing her arms around his neck, "'Cuz I know that you were going to ask me. Hey, maybe we can rent a nice movie afterschool today, watch it on Mysti's big ol' wide screen. Just the two of us in that big ol' ro--" 

He unwrapped her arms, "Can't. I've got plans with Pietro." 

And there was no denying the look of stormy anger that crossed her face as she pulled herself away, hands on hips. "Pete!? Excuse me, but is _your_ little _friend_ more important to you than _our** relationship**_? Seriously, you'll see him at home. He never fucking goes anywhere, no job, nothing." 

"_Pietro_ and I haven't had a chance to talk because of you and me going out." The words left a sourness to his lips and a pit in his stomach. But he pressed on, reguardless, "Pietro's dad won't let him get a job. And he pays for Pietro's part of the groceries and the heating and everything, so leave him alone." 

"Just because Big Daddy pays his prissy-prick son's way through life doesn't mean you always have to defend him!" The usually some-what-pretty face was twisted into a scowl, "You're always cutting me off when I try--" 

"I think you're jealous, Tabitha." Fred's voice was low, soft when he said it, though it cut through hers like a knife. "And if you keep acting like that, maybe you should be." 

And she froze, mouth in a Maybe Maroon circle of shock, then closed, and opened again, words trying to make it out from inside his throat, everything stuck there, refusing to budge. She shot him a hateful look as Lance bit back a laugh. Then it was like a light turned on within her, entire body jumping to life, "Lance...you're not...he's....But....LANCE!?" 

He grinned, taking satisfaction from her apparent distress, "I'm not gay. Look, I'll see you when we get home. We're going to the dance, remember?" 

With a sigh she nodded, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before running back to the fast and furious four-square game she'd skipped away from. And he fell back agains the bleachers with a slight grin, "Thanks for making something up, Freddy. I didn't know how to get rid of her." 

There was a moment as the bell rang, and his friend rose, "I wasn't making that up. I think she has a reason to be jealous." 

And Lance just blinked, then walked away from Fred, eyes wider than dinner plates   
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Whoo...Slash is good for the sick. Kinda like chicken soup. ^_^ 


	4. Tension

Well, guess what. It's back after a long hiatus. ^_^ You have only yourselves to thank. After the majority of season two, I was pleased to NEVER write for Evo again, but guess what we have? ^_^ I'm not sure I like this part, but oh well. I can always take it down and edit it later. So, if you are so inclined, read on. 

I also would like to note that my AIM has changed (again) from shinigal. It's renegadesidhe now. I like that one. fwee! Comments are always appreciated, either in email or in reviews.

Also, there's a slight bit of spoilers for Star Wars Episode two, and I am not including anything from the later episodes, like the Kitty-Lanceness or the fact that Wanda returned and so did Mystique. Missing Life  
Part Four  
Legals: Same as always. Not mine  
Warnings: Mentions of a L/T romance, a little P/K, but the over all thing is L/P. Mwa ha ha.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
He sighed as he watched them lurch out of school, their footsteps like thunder. They all complained so much about how slow time passed, how long this class was stretched out. Why this class took forever. They'd all go insane if he lived like he did, pacing the hallways around their barely moving bodies. 

Normally, he was home by now, stretched out on his bed and recovering from the splitting headache that normally came with the school day. Normally, he was so damn happy to be free... But now, he was a wreck, waiting for Lance to show, his mind racing over the reasons why Lance might not show. 

Tabby might have coerced him into a ride home. She used her feminine wiles, flaunting her overly-endowed chest and wonderfully toned hips to get him into the jeep. Of course, Todd and Fred were walking home, and she used this. She was probably licking a lollipop in that disgusting way that girls did when they wanted to distract their boyfriends from the price tag of the dress that said girl was making them buy. 

She could make Lance forget like that. It wasn't that hard to believe. Lance was a boy, after all, a nice, very straight boy that had a girlfriend. He shook his head, white bangs hitting him in the face as he did so. 

He was going to prove Tabitha wrong. He was going to get Lance. The reaction that the older boy had to getting up from the couch had been a good sign. He could be swayed into at least a few, non-straight kisses. That would be enough to beat Tabitha. He could ignore the horrid way his stomach squeezed when he thought about deceiving Lance like that. He could do this. 

"Pietro?" A hand lay on his shoulder, halting him from his pacing. The student body trickled around them, ignoring them. They were two islands lost in a fierce sea with only each other, or something like that. For a moment, it was easy to imagine this kind of thing in one of those Sailor Moon-shows, with the sparkling eyes, sexy half-smirks, and bubbles. Lots and lots of bubbles. 

He forced his eyes from going down to Lance's tight jeans or the way his shirt revealed the smallest hint of muscles before shrugging Lance's hand away, "Hey. What took you so long?" 

Crimson blossomed on his friend's cheeks, and for the first time, he noticed the slightest smudges of lipstick on his face, around his lips. It looked like she'd been unsuccessful in trying to bite his lips off, "Tabby wouldn't let me go without a fight." 

His lips pursed, brows coming together, "Oh." 

The other boy's eyes got very wide for a moment, realizing the mistake he'd made unconsciously, "I...she got mad because I wouldn't drive her home before I got you, even though I know she had a distraction waiting for me at home. She's a bit--" 

"Predictable." He let a ghost of a smile cross his face before straightening up. "So what's on the menu for today? Massive guy oogling?" 

And he tried hard not to laugh when Lance stumbled back, swallowing harshly, "Pietro! We're in school." 

He moved closer to Lance, wrapping his arms around the boy and placing his head on his shoulder, "But you said you'd do what ever I wanted today..." The dove-haired boy grinned, doing his very best to look lovable. 

The brunette's eyes looked ready to pop from his head as he stood there, stammering over words, "Um...uh...Pietro...maybe...um...y-you should let me go. Yes! Let me g-go, b-because...uh...yeah! Let me go!" 

Pietro didn't answer for a moment, trying to imprint the sensations of Lance's body against his. The black T-shirt seemed a lot thinner this close, and Lance's cologne smelled very nice this close. His own cheeks were warming as he stood like that, hand reaching up to stroke Lance's slightly scraggly hair. 

The other boy didn't move, didn't react. Pietro could feel the muscles in his arms twitching, his fingers moving. There were no words that could accurately describe the war that seemed to be inside Lance's body, and his evil smile broadened a little. 

_I'm going to win._ But he stepped back from Lance, smiling ever so innocently, "Well, since you're against that idea, what about Star Wars?" He, personally, would rather see the cute Spiderman movie again, as he and Todd went to see Star Wars on Tuesday, but.... 

The other boy's face was still a little rosier than normal, his eyes looking around the hall at anything but Pietro. "Uh...Star Wars. Yeah, that sounds good. Yes." 

Pietro turned, walking towards the door. Some times, these things were just too easy.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


It was really hard not to look at Pietro during the movie. He didn't understand why of all movies, Pietro wanted to see this one. It was okay, he supposed. It had somewhat okay dialogue, and the special effects were cool... But, well, aside from the fact that the Padme chick was in a lot of the scenes, he was losing interest in the beginning. Falling in love shots were so incredibly terrible. 

The younger boy was staring at the screen with a thoughtful look on his face, chewing on his bottom lip in a way that seemed very endearing. He was trying so hard to sit still, to not make comments, to not eat through the entire Mega Bucket of Popcorn beside him or drink too much of his Diet Sprite. His foot was swaying back and forth. It would go to the left, and then he'd hold it there as if he was afraid that it might just start to swing it back and forth until his foot was a blur. 

Pietro had changed so much in the time he'd known him. He'd gone from being an overly-loud, overly-confident Daddy's boy to...well...being cool. He was still annoying and confident too much, but the loudness had died down. He didn't make the huge deal about the fact that his was the only room with two windows. He had some paintings or something hanging over them. He didn't...smile as much. 

The annoying guy that needed to have his stalk eyes ripped off his head began talking, interrupting Lance's 'What's wrong with Pietro' thoughts with thoughts of death and pain. It wasn't that he hated this guy, just... He served no purpose other than angering half the audience into riots. Star Wars geek riots were not that great. Many, many people could get hurt. 

He rolled his head to the side, watching the people running back and forth. When Episode One? came out, he'd just moved in with his final foster home. That was part of the whole 'Show Lance the wonders of his new life!' activities, going to see that movie. This one, in comparison, wasn't that bad. And he was in much better company. No loud whispers of what was going to happen before it happened. _That_ was annoying. 

Pietro was quiet, and he was slowly becoming more and more engrossed in the film. There were disturbing moments when something akin to sadness would cross his pale face and always when nothing sad was happening. Lance looked up at the screen, at the little boy, that was really creepy, laughing about blowing things. The boy beside him bit his lip, eyes a bit shiny. 

He leaned over, taking the soft, cool hand into his, "What's wrong?" 

The boy shrugged, "Reminds me of myself." He played with one of his bangs for a moment, "You know, the almost clone of my father." 

"You're nothing like your father." He smiled, squeezing Pietro's hand and going back to the movie, completely missing the content look on Pietro's face. Completely missing that his hand stayed with the younger boy's until the end of the movie before he pulled it away, his face very warm.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"Did you see Yoda? He was awesome!" Pietro smiled, giddy, as they left the theatre. He liked Star Wars, and he's already seen the movie, but the events in the theatre made him very happy. He didn't really think any connection he has to Boba Fett was worth crying over, but the waterworks had been worth it. It was an act, but Lance couldn't know that. That would ruin the game. "And that arm thing was kind of....creepy. Didn't the other guy lose one too?" 

The older boy wasn't paying attention, eyes transfixed on the road ahead, brow furrowed. He looked like he was trying not to concentrate too hard on anything but the road in front of him. It was a familiar look. Lance got it a lot when there was something bothering him. "Huh? I don't know." 

Blue eyes turned out towards the window, watching Bayville speed past them in a rather dull blur. Again, the guilt over the game churned inside of him. He didn't want to seriously fuck with Lance as much as he wanted to fuck with Tabitha. He didn't want to make the guy doubt his sexuality or anything. He'd dealt with enough people that were like that. 'Whee! I'm gay!...no. I'm straight. No! Gay! No! ....Damnit, what's my name? I'm so confused!' and they'd take it out on him eventually. 

"Hey, Pietro..." Lance broke him out of his thoughts for a moment, voice cautious. 

"Yeah?" 

There was a moment of silence before his friend kind of shrugged, "Feel like Gut Bomb on the way back? Maybe pick something up for Todd and Fred." 

"And Tabby?" He folded his arms over his chest, raising a brow. 

"She doesn't want to eat Gut Bomb right now. Might ruin her complexion for the dance." 

Pietro snickered, "Like she has a huge problem with that. Of course, if she didn't wear so much make-up, she might not have to worry about--" 

"Look, lay off Tabitha." It came out harsher than Pietro would have expected, the car swerving a little bit on the road. "Besides, look at what you have on your arm." 

He blinked for a few moments, the statement going clear over his head. "I'm not going with--" 

"Pryde. You know, little Jewish Princess that's too good for us. Super-obsessed with her image." He smirked a little, looking a little too sure of himself for Pietro's liking, "I wonder what she'd think if she knew she weighs a good ten pounds more than her new boy-toy." 

Pink shadows were forming on the alabaster cheeks, "She is not my girlfriend. She asked me to the dance; I said yes. There is no other obligation from _either_ party." 

He pulled the car over to the side of the road, hanging his head for a moment, "Pietro. You have Kitty. I have Tabby. Lay off mine, and I'll lay off yours." 

The delicate features were pinched with confusion, "Why do you want to believe so much that Kitty and I are a thing? I'm _gay_, Lance, remember. I like boys--" 

"Then why aren't you taking Kitty to the dance?" Lance wasn't shouting, merely staring ahead. But he was annoyed. "Why not take a _guy_?" 

Pietro growled a little, arms crossed over his chest, "Gee, I don't know. Maybe because I only went with Kitty to be nice? Maybe because there are _no_ guys in Bayville that swing my way...Maybe because I wanted to have fun, for once. Maybe I'm tired of waiting for the guy that's straighter than a pole and about as dense as a rock to notice me." 

Lance didn't seem to catch the look Pietro gave him on the last line, tapping his fingers off the steering wheel. "There have to be gay guys in Bayville. What about Summ--" 

"Taken. Taryn." 

"Blue fuzzy guy?" 

"Some random chick in his math class." 

"Paul?" 

There was a moment before Pietro snickered, "He's trying to find himself. I'm not going after that." 

Lance smirked a little, shoving his friend's shoulder, "Truce?" 

"Truce." Pietro shoved him back, though his hand lingered for a moment, looking into the warm depths in front of him. A slight rosy hue creeped onto Lance's face again, and he smirked, shaking his head, "We should probably get home before Todd and Fred are driven to homicide by Tabby." 

"Not that it would be a bad thing." Lance's eyes held onto Pietro's for a moment, then looked down at his hands, gripping the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles were white, "Hey, Pietro...." 

"Yeah?" 

The other boy looked back at him, leaning over a little before he caught himself, "Uh...Gut Bomb?" 

With a defeated sigh, Pietro slid down in his chair, "Whatever."   
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This prolly isn't as good as the others because of life and the muse has taken a vacation. Grr on it. R/R if you feel so inclined. 


	5. Good Luck and Good Bye

I don't think it's any suprise to any one that I'm putting this up. It's been forever since I've updated, and the last chapter wasn't all that great. I don't know if I will ever finish this. The passion I had for this story is missing gone, and I don't know if I can ever get it back. True, I didn't see much of season two, so maybe that's it. 

But for now, consider this story a lost cause. 

Thank you for your reviews and your support, 

Lyo 

(yes, I know in doing this, I'll prolly wake up tommorrow with 800 ideas and a ton of love for this story. >_ 


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